Non-capsulated and capsulated Haemophilus influenzae in children with acute otitis media in Venezuela: a prospective epidemiological study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Non-typeable <it>Haemophilus influenzae </it>(NTHi) and <it>Streptococcus pneumoniae </it>are major causes of bacterial acute otitis media (AOM). Data regarding AOM are limited in Latin America. This is the first active surveillance in a private setting in Venezuela to characterize the bacterial etiology of AOM in children < 5 years of age.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Between December 2008 and December 2009, 91 AOM episodes (including sporadic, recurrent and treatment failures) were studied in 87 children enrolled into a medical center in Caracas, Venezuela. Middle ear fluid samples were collected either by tympanocentesis or spontaneous otorrhea swab sampling method. Standard laboratory and microbiological techniques were used to identify bacteria and test for antimicrobial resistance. The results were interpreted according to Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) 2009 for non-meningitis isolates. All statistical analyses were performed using SAS 9.1 and Microsoft Excel (for graphical purposes).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Overall, bacteria were cultured from 69.2% (63 of the 91 episodes); at least one pathogen (<it>S. pneumoniae, H. influenzae, S. pyogenes </it>or <it>M. catarrhalis</it>) was cultured from 65.9% (60/91) of episodes. <it>H. influenzae </it>(55.5%; 35/63 episodes) and <it>S. pneumoniae </it>(34.9%; 22/63 episodes) were the most frequently reported bacteria. Among <it>H. influenzae </it>isolates, 62.9% (22/35 episodes) were non-capsulated (NTHi) and 31.4% (11/35 episodes) were capsulated including types d, a, c and f, across all age groups. Low antibiotic resistance for <it>H. influenzae </it>was observed to amoxicillin/ampicillin (5.7%; 2/35 samples). NTHi was isolated in four of the six <it>H. influenzae </it>positive samples (66.7%) from recurrent episodes.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We found <it>H. influenzae </it>and <it>S. pneumoniae </it>to be the main pathogens causing AOM in Venezuela. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines with efficacy against these bacterial pathogens may have the potential to maximize protection against AOM.</p

The first myriapod genome sequence reveals conservative arthropod gene content and genome organisation in the centipede Strigamia maritima.

Myriapods (e.g., centipedes and millipedes) display a simple homonomous body plan relative to other arthropods. All members of the class are terrestrial, but they attained terrestriality independently of insects. Myriapoda is the only arthropod class not represented by a sequenced genome. We present an analysis of the genome of the centipede Strigamia maritima. It retains a compact genome that has undergone less gene loss and shuffling than previously sequenced arthropods, and many orthologues of genes conserved from the bilaterian ancestor that have been lost in insects. Our analysis locates many genes in conserved macro-synteny contexts, and many small-scale examples of gene clustering. We describe several examples where S. maritima shows different solutions from insects to similar problems. The insect olfactory receptor gene family is absent from S. maritima, and olfaction in air is likely effected by expansion of other receptor gene families. For some genes S. maritima has evolved paralogues to generate coding sequence diversity, where insects use alternate splicing. This is most striking for the Dscam gene, which in Drosophila generates more than 100,000 alternate splice forms, but in S. maritima is encoded by over 100 paralogues. We see an intriguing linkage between the absence of any known photosensory proteins in a blind organism and the additional absence of canonical circadian clock genes. The phylogenetic position of myriapods allows us to identify where in arthropod phylogeny several particular molecular mechanisms and traits emerged. For example, we conclude that juvenile hormone signalling evolved with the emergence of the exoskeleton in the arthropods and that RR-1 containing cuticle proteins evolved in the lineage leading to Mandibulata. We also identify when various gene expansions and losses occurred. The genome of S. maritima offers us a unique glimpse into the ancestral arthropod genome, while also displaying many adaptations to its specific life history.This work was supported by the following grants: NHGRIU54HG003273 to R.A.G; EU Marie Curie ITN #215781 “Evonet” to M.A.; a Wellcome Trust Value in People (VIP) award to C.B. and Wellcome Trust graduate studentship WT089615MA to J.E.G; Marine rhythms of Life” of the University of Vienna, an FWF (http://www.fwf.ac.at/) START award (#AY0041321) and HFSP (http://www.hfsp.org/) research grant (#RGY0082/2010) to KT-­‐R; MFPL Vienna International PostDoctoral Program for Molecular Life Sciences (funded by Austrian Ministry of Science and Research and City of Vienna, Cultural Department -­‐Science and Research to T.K; Direct Grant (4053034) of the Chinese University of Hong Kong to J.H.L.H.; NHGRI HG004164 to G.M.; Danish Research Agency (FNU), Carlsberg Foundation, and Lundbeck Foundation to C.J.P.G.; U.S. National Institutes of Health R01AI55624 to J.H.W.; Royal Society University Research fellowship to F.M.J.; P.D.E. was supported by the BBSRC via the Babraham Institute;This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from PLOS via http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.100200

Individueller affektiver Raum (Individual affective space)

Various disciplines have been attempting to define and measure human emotions for quite some time. Despite numerous models claiming universality in explaining emotions, studies indicate that the perception and processing of emotions are highly individualized, with a putative individualized neural representation in the left insula (Levine et al., 2018). However, it is particularly crucial for psychologists to have the capability to measure an individual’s emotional world. Therefore, in this study we aim to compare three methods that allow one to create representations of an affective space 1) inverse multidimensional scaling (iMDS) using a multi-arrangement task (Kriegeskorte &amp; Mur, 2012), 2) rating scales, and 3) pairwise distance ratings in terms of retest-reliability and representational granularity. Participants will be provided with 25 adjectives from the German version of the Affective Norms for English Words (ANEW) (Bradley &amp; Lang, 1999; Schmidtke et al., 2014). They will be asked to arrange, compare, or rate these adjectives according to the dissimilarity of the emotional reactions they elicit in all of the three methods twice. The study comprises four measurement time points: Before the actual testing of the individual affective space in the laboratory begins, participants will be asked to fill in their demographics to complete several psychological questionnaires online. The psychological questionnaires included in this study are the HEXACO (Ashton &amp; Lee, 2009), Depressivität im nichtklinischen Kontext (Depressiveness in a non-clinical context; Mohr &amp; Müller, 2004), and the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire PAQ (Kaemmerer et al., 2021; Preece et al., 2018). During the second measurement time point, participants visit the lab to engage in the multi-arrangement task and the pairwise comparison (PC). The third time of measurement starts again with the multi-arrangement task and the PC followed by the scale rating on the Self-Assessment-Manikin (SAM) (Bradley &amp; Lang, 1994). To enhance participants’ compliance with the protocol, participants can choose to perform the fourth appointment either online or in the laboratory. This fourth measurement time point exclusively involves the second scale rating. To ensure consistent conditions for all subjects, participants engaging via an online video communication platform are requested to activate their cameras to control for potential distractors. At the onset of each of the four measurement time points, participants are initially asked to complete the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule PANAS (Breyer &amp; Bluemke, 2016; Watson et al., 1988) to monitor possible changes in affective states due to everyday life factors across the four appointments. After assessing all the three methods twice, dissimilarity matrices (DSMs) are inferred for subsequent analyses. Given that, among the three compared methods, the multi-arrangement task is the sole approach tapping into the spatial nature of similarity representations of mental concepts (Majewska et al., 2020), we assume that it achieves superior results in terms of both retest-reliability and validity compared to scale ratings and PC. Based on the findings, the goal is to develop a reliable method for measuring an individual’s emotional state that is nevertheless sensitive to changes in the individual emotional state (e.g., due to acute psychosocial stress exposure). In the long run, this method may potentially serve as a diagnostic tool for detecting mental illnesses such as depression

Individual Affective Space (Individueller affektiver Raum)

Emotion perception is highly idiosyncratic. Emotion perception may be best depicted as multidimensional representation of individual affective spaces (IAS) How to assess IAS: • Inverse multidimensional scaling (iMDS) with arrangement task • Pairwise comparisons (PC) • Multiple fixed rating scales, e.g. Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) Summary Higher test-retest-reliability in SAM than in iMDS and PC Tendency for higher informativeness in iMDS and PC than in SA

Clinical applications of magnetic resonance imaging based functional and structural connectivity

Advances in computational neuroimaging techniques have expanded the armamentarium of imaging tools available for clinical applications in clinical neuroscience. Non-invasive, in vivo brain MRI structural and functional network mapping has been used to identify therapeutic targets, define eloquent brain regions to preserve, and gain insight into pathological processes and treatments as well as prognostic biomarkers. These tools have the real potential to inform patient-specific treatment strategies. Nevertheless, a realistic appraisal of clinical utility is needed that balances the growing excitement and interest in the field with important limitations associated with these techniques. Quality of the raw data, minutiae of the processing methodology, and the statistical models applied can all impact on the results and their interpretation. A lack of standardization in data acquisition and processing has also resulted in issues with reproducibility. This limitation has had a direct impact on the reliability of these tools and ultimately, confidence in their clinical use. Advances in MRI technology and computational power as well as automation and standardization of processing methods, including machine learning approaches, may help address some of these issues and make these tools more reliable in clinical use. In this review, we will highlight the current clinical uses of MRI connectomics in the diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders; balancing emerging applications and technologies with limitations of connectivity analytic approaches to present an encompassing and appropriate perspective

C/EBPβ is a MYB- and p300-cooperating pro-leukemogenic factor and promising drug target in acute myeloid leukemia

Transcription factor MYB has recently emerged as a promising drug target for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Here, we have characterized a group of natural sesquiterpene lactones (STLs), previously shown to suppress MYB activity, for their potential to decrease AML cell proliferation. Unlike what was initially thought, these compounds inhibit MYB indirectly via its cooperation partner C/EBPβ. C/EBPβ-inhibitory STLs affect the expression of a large number of MYB-regulated genes, suggesting that the cooperation of MYB and C/EBPβ broadly shapes the transcriptional program of AML cells. We show that expression of GFI1, a direct MYB target gene, is controlled cooperatively by MYB, C/EBPβ, and co-activator p300, and is down-regulated by C/EBPβ-inhibitory STLs, exemplifying that they target the activity of composite MYB-C/EBPβ-p300 transcriptional modules. Ectopic expression of GFI1, a zinc-finger protein that is required for the maintenance of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, partially abrogated STL-induced myelomonocytic differentiation, implicating GFI1 as a relevant target of C/EBPβ-inhibitory STLs. Overall, our data identify C/EBPβ as a pro-leukemogenic factor in AML and suggest that targeting of C/EBPβ may have therapeutic potential against AML

Prediction of improvement of contractile function in patients with ischemic ventricular dysfunction after revascularization by fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose single-photon emission computed tomography

Objectives. We evaluated the use of fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) to predict improvement of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) after revascularization. Background. FDG SPECT has recently been proposed for assessment of myocardial viability. However, FDG SPECT still awaits validation in terms of predicting improvement of contractile function after revascularization in patients with poor left ventricular (LV) function. Methods. Fifty-five patients with contractile dysfunction (including 22 with LVEF <30%) underwent FDG SPECT during hyperinsulinemic glucose clamping and early thallium-201 SPECT (to assess perfusion). Improvement of LV function was evaluated 3 months after revascularization with echocardiography and radionuclide ventriculography. Results. The 55 patients were arbitrarily classified into two groups: 19 with three or more viable, dysfunctional segments on FDG SPECT and 36 with less than three viable, dysfunctional segments. LVEF increased significantly in the first group, from 28 ± 8% (mean ± SD) before to 35 ± 9% (p < 0.01) after revascularization. In the second group, LVEF remained unchanged after revascularization (45 ± 14% vs. 44 ± 14%, p = NS). The 22 patients with severely depressed LV function were similarly classified into two groups: 14 with three or more viable segments on FDG SPECT in whom LVEF improved significantly (25 ± 6% vs. 32 ± 6%) and 8 with less than three viable segments in whom LVEF remained unchanged (24 ± 6% vs. 25 ± 6%). Conclusions. This study shows that FDG SPECT can identify patients in whom LV function improves after revascularization. Because SPECT is widely available, this technique may contribute to more routine use of FDG for determination of viability